Saturday, July 31, 2010

It was announced in yesterday's newspapers that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has acquired new sets of wheels wrapped in steel for Afghanistan. 15 MPTVs (Mine Protected Tactical Vehicles) were purchased last September. The SAF will be shipping these armored vehicles to Afghanistan where more than 160 of the Republic's troops will be stationed to help rebuilt the war-torn country.

These vehicles are known as Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles by the United States Military. The vehicles are a family of armored fighting vehicles designed to survive IED (Improvised Explosive Device) attacks and ambushes. IEDs cause the majority (63%) of US deaths in Iraq. IED blasts have become the biggest threat in Afghanistan, causing six out of 10 fatalities this year.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Coming up next will be 1:6 figures of the other cast of "Platoon" - Tom Berenger as Sergeant Barnes, Willem Dafoe as Sergeant Elias and Johnny Depp as Lerner. Finally, I can lay my hands on these guys after missing out on Sideshow's offering years ago. Coming from Hot Toys, you can only expect the best in sculpt, outfit, gear and weapons :)

Here's another look at the Hot Toys 1:6 Charlie Sheen as Chris Taylor Vietnam War military figure

There are four Predators in the 2010 film of the same name: the "Classic Predator", "Tracker Predator", "Falconer Predator" and "Berserker Predator". The Classic Predator is designed to resemble the creature in the original Predator film and is smaller than the Tracker and Falconer Predators, two of the larger Predators hunting the humans.

This is a sneak peek at Hot Toys 1:6 scale Falconer Predator. The mask looks like a falcon and he has a single long blade instead of the usual double blade

The Falconer Predator controls a flying reconnaissance drone while the Tracker Predator, identified by a pair of tusks attached to its helmet, controls the quadrupedal hunting alien animals (like hunting / tracker dogs)

The Berserker Predator, identified by an alien mandible attached to its helmet, has already been previewed HERE

The photo below shows Pararescuemen from the 304th Rescue Squadron being hoisted up to an HH-60G Pavehawk during Operation Iraqi Freedom in April 2003 at Tallil Air Base, Iraq (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt Shane A Cuomo from MilitarySpot)

And this is the Hot Toys US Air Force Pararescue Jumper (with M203 Grenade Fire Support) boxed set from 2004. Seeing the poorly executed Wild Work USAF PJ (previewed in a earlier post HERE) made me take out this boxed set and admire its contents.

Surprisingly this 1:6 military figure is still in its box,which is pretty rare for me but there are just so many good figures that I haven't been able to open all of them. Sometimes there would be multiple buys and upon reaching home, other events occur which require my attention and some of the openings are put off till a later date. This was one of those times.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Celebrating his 70th anniversary and paying tribute to the 20th century most influential and one-of-his-kind martial artist in the world, Hot Toys is proud to present the 1/6th scale Bruce Lee Collectible Figure for the first time, specially crafted based on his image in the movie "Enter the Dragon" in 1973, highlighting two newly developed authentic head sculpts with Parallel Eyeball Rolling System (PERS), newly sculpted muscular body, two sets of specially-made costume and two movie-accurate diorama backdrops.

The 1/6th scale Bruce Lee Collectible Figure specially features: Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Bruce Lee as Lee in the movie Enter the Dragon, Two (2) newly developed head sculpts with Parallel Eyeball Rolling System (PERS) with different facial expressions, including one (1) battle damaged version with scars on both sides of face, Multi-layered stereoscopic hair sculpture, Approximately 30 cm tall. Newly sculpted muscular body with over 30 points of articulation with battle damaged scars on chest, waist and back. Each piece of head sculpt is specially hand-painted

Pararescuemen (AFSC 1T2X1), also called PJs (a nickname pronounced 'pee jays'), are United States Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and Air Combat Command (ACC) operatives tasked with recovery and medical treatment of personnel in humanitarian and combat environments. They are the only members of the DoD (Department of Defense) specifically organized, trained and equipped to conduct personnel recovery operations in hostile or denied areas as a primary mission. [source: wiki]

On the morning of May 20, 1941, World War II was well underway, threatening innumerable lives as Hitler's Third Reich invaded country after country. As Greek and Allied troops defended the isle of Crete, Nazi Germany launched a massive airborne paratrooper assault on the island. Unprepared for such an invasion, the Allied commanders lost control of the their main airfield, and German troops flooded the island in an ongoing battle that would last for ten days, ultimately ending in the loss of Crete to German forces despite staggering losses in their own ranks.

In the end, the Battle of Crete would be marked a failure by both sides. The great number of casualties to the Germans was considered too great to risk another large-scale airborne attack, and the Allied forces would count the island among the fallen territories. Even so, the Allies' admiration for Germany's planning and execution of the airborne trooper invasion lead to significant advancements in their own paratrooper divisions. As World War II waged on, the lessons of Crete would resonate with both Germany and the Allied forces.

In "Iron Man 2 (2010)", at the opening of "Stark Expo", Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr) as Iron Man is introduced to the crowd by these sexy cheerleaders called the Ironettes. We've all seen them in the trailers and movie itself.

Now here's one in 1:6 scale. This is the just announced 1:6 scale Girls Mission Irongel 12-inch female figure. I think they coined the name form mixing "Iron" from Iron Man and "gel" from Angel because I cannot imagine they were actually thinking of the jelly-like material known as gel

What caught my eye was her ... suitcase, which looks very much like the suitcase containing the Iron Man Mark V, as seen at the Circuit de Monaco when Ivan Vanko / Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) first attacked Tony Stark. This was literally a case containing the (iron) suit.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

According to Wikipedia, kitbashing or model bashing is a practice whereby a new scale model is created by taking pieces out of commercial kits. These pieces may be added to a custom project or to another kit. For the hobbyist, kitbashing saves time that would be spent scratch building an entire model. Hobbyists may kitbash to create a model of a subject (real or imaginary) for which there is not a commercial kit.

I think for many of us 1:6 military figure collectors, we would have kitbashed at least one figure or more because we want to upgrade the figure we have or customize a figure we would like to see but is unavailable in the market. This happens especially when a new collector comes into the market and finds that military figures of a particular era (e.g. Vietnam War figures) have ceased production and the older ones are no longer available. Dragon had released quite a number of SDU figures in the past with Hot Toys following suit but since then, if you want an SDU figure, you might have to resort to kitbashing one yourself from parts available. It's most easy to kitbash PMCs (Private Military Contractors) because they don't have uniforms nor standard gear.

Monday, July 26, 2010

It seems like someone at Medicom office in Japan has a thing for Johnny Depp because that person has managed to convince the company to produce and release a string of 1:6 scale 12-inch figures based on the American actor and musician known for his portrayals of offbeat, eccentric characters such as Edward Scissorhands (although Hot Toys version looks better IMHO), Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (Hot Toys released at least two of them too), Willy Wonka in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)", "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)", Mad Hatter from "Alice in Wonderland (2010)" (there is going to be two versions) and now Ichabod Crane from "Sleepy Hollow".

Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 American period horror film directed by Tim Burton. The story centers on police constable Ichabod Crane (played by the ever magnificent Johnny Depp) sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village Sleepy Hollow by a mysterious Headless Horseman.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Something pretty significant happened this week more than 41 years ago. The Apollo 11 space flight landed the first humans on Earth's Moon on July 20, 1969. The mission, carried out by the United States, is considered a major accomplishment in human exploration and represented a victory by the U.S. in the Cold War Space Race with the Soviet Union.

Launched from Florida on July 16, the third lunar mission of NASA's Apollo Program (and the first G-type mission) was crewed by Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. On July 20 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquility and became the first humans to walk on the Moon. [source: wiki]

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Very nice pictures have appeared of Toymaster's next release - their second 1:6 scale Reporter. Their first was a War Journalist with a Leonardo DiCaprio head sculpt released sometime ago. Check out the super nice and detailed G-Shock watch as well as the uber cool sling bag

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Backstory: While the oppression of the cruel Empire hangs like a dark shroud over the galaxy, the few remaining Jedi have gone into hiding to protect their knowledge and ways. Hidden deep in the mysterious and perilous jungles of Dagobah is the simple clay hut of Jedi Master Yoda who has chosen this exile to wait in hopes that the Jedi will one day defeat the Empire.

It is here that Yoda reveals his true identity to Luke Skywalker after deliberately provoking Luke, testing him for signs of that he has inherited his father's deep flaws. Yoda begrudgingly agrees to train Luke in the ways of the Force, and the two spend many hours training together in Yoda's tiny home with Luke hunched over under the short roof to glean what knowledge he can from the great Jedi Master as his mentor.

"Ip Man" was the 2008 semi-biographical martial arts film based on the life of Ip Man, a grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun and the first person to teach the art openly. One of his students was none other than the widely influential and acclaimed martial artist and filmmaker Bruce Lee. The film was directed by Wilson Yip, and stars Donnie Yen as Ip Man, with martial arts choreography by Sammo Hung. "Ip Man" won the "Best Film" and "Best Action Choreography" at the 2009 Hong Kong Film Awards. "Ip Man 2" has since been released this year and is just as good, if not better than the first film.

Now ENTERBAY will be releasing their exclusive Real Masterpiece – Ip Man. According to their website, "This 1/6 Scale Donnie Yen as Ip Man Collectible Figure, is engineered in precision, masterfully sculpted and made to our high standard."

He looks to be from the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division during the siege of Bastogne. The two-buckle boots look to be outstanding and the M-1928 Haversack is closely associated with the 327th GIR.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

"Band of Brothers" is a 2001 ten-part television World War II miniseries based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. The executive producers were Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who had collaborated on the World War II film "Saving Private Ryan (1998)". The narrative centers on the experiences of "E" Company ("Easy Company") of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment assigned to the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. [source: wiki]

The main character of the show is arguably Major Richard Winters (1918–), played by Damian Lewis, who leads the cast for most of the episodes and is the main subject of the episodes "Day of Days", "Crossroads" and the final episode, "Points".

And now from DiD comes news that they will be releasing another World War II US Army Paratrooper, "Major Richard" of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, United States Army. Major Richard will come complete with his full set of attire, equipment and gear plus parachute (main and reserve) all ready to do battle in Europe!

Thanks to Jon and Andrea of "Wicket® Toy & Collectible Photography" from Los Angeles, California, I am now a feature on their blog :) which only goes to show once again that blogging has its privileges. I've met many GREAT people through my blog and made quite a number of friends from it and Jon is one of those who became close through our common interests.

About Jon and Andrea (from their profile on their blog):
"Wicket Toy & Collectible Photography is project that a couple from Southern California started to support everything toys and collectibles. We write reviews on collectibles, report up-to-date news on all the latest releases, and photograph our favorite toys. We're not doing this for profit, just to show love for a hobby that we both enjoy very much. If you share our love, we think you'll enjoy what we're all about."

Both Jon Secor and Andrea Guzman have some amazing photography skills (that I would kill for - ha! ha! just kidding) and you only have to visit their other site Wicket Figure Portraits to see how GOOD they really are. It is linked to their flickr account and their pictures will simply blow you away! You have to pop over and see them for yourselves.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States. Not only is the DEA the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it also has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations abroad. [source: wiki]

As of January 2010, DEA FAST (Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Teams) currently fields 5 teams. One team is always stationed in Afghanistan conducting Counter Narcotics (CN), Counter Terrorism (CT), Direct Action (DA) missions. The remaining four teams are stationed at Quantico Marine Corps base, Virginia. FAST originally was created to solely conduct missions in Afghanistan but has evolved into a global action arm for the Department of Justice and DEA. FAST agents are required to be experts in all weapons used by USSCOM (United States Special Operations Command) and foreign criminal entities.

And Toys City in collaboration with MIL and Merit will be releasing this 1:6 scale 12-inch DEA figure

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Six full-time national servicemen (NSF) were hurt when a bolt of lightning hit the hill they were training on in Marsiling last week. The men were participating in a training excercise under a shelter during the time. The NSFs, who were undergoing training to become officers, took shelter under a tree from rain at the time when the exercise was temporarily suspended, according to a Straits Times report.

This incident comes as no surprise as Singapore has one of the highest rates of lightning activity in the world. The hot and humid weather is ideal for the formation of lightning-producing storm clouds.

And now for a different kind of lightning... presented to you by Medicom Kubrick Star Wars figures

Friday, July 16, 2010

From the cover of the new issue of Entertainment Weekly, here is our first look at Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern (click on the picture to get a larger and better view)!

Here's an extract from the Entertainment Weekly article:
Ryan Reynolds stars as Hal Jordan, a cocky test pilot who becomes a ring-wearing intergalactic superhero in this massive sci-fi epic from director Martin Campbell ("Casino Royale"). Though Reynolds has prior experience in the superhero realm from his role as Deadpool in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", playing Green Lantern involved some major challenges, like getting hurled through the air on a wire at up to 60 feet per second to create the illusion of flight. “The first time you do it, you’re seriously considering an adult diaper,” Reynolds says. Still, he couldn’t resist the chance to play the beloved DC Comics hero, whose power ring can conjure virtually anything he can dream up. “Will and imagination are his superpowers,” Reynolds says. “We need a circus of Timothy Learys to think of things Hal would invent with his ring.”

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Hot Toys is on the roll and let nothing stand in their way! Now they've got the Ghost Rider on their side. Ghost Rider is a 2007 superhero film based on the character of the same name which appeared in Marvel Comics. The film stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who morphs into the demon vigilante Ghost Rider.

This is an AWESOME 1/6 scale motorcycle custom-made by an e-bay seller "Probuilder41" based on the 1979 Australian dystopian action film which starred the then relatively unknown Mel Gibson. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story of breakdown of society, murder and vengeance. It became a top-grossing Australian film and has been credited for further opening up the global market to Australian New Wave films.

Description as posted on site: "NO! This is not a real motorcycle... but it is a 1/6 scale one-of-a-kind replica of a Mad Max / Road Warrior bike. It is 14" long and 8" tall."

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The Riddler (Edward Nigma OR Nygma OR Nashton) is a fictional character, a comic book character and super-villain published by DC Comics, and an enemy of Batman. In live action, he was portrayed by Frank Gorshin and John Astin in the 1960s television series, as well as by Jim Carrey in the film "Batman Forever (1995)".

In 2005, a new interpretation of the Riddler debuted in "The Batman" animated series episode “Riddled”. The Riddler returned with a Gothic look and no one would have imagined the Riddler with long hair. Before this, the character was often depicted as wearing a domino mask either with a green suit and bowler hat, or a green jumpsuit.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

In "The Batman" animated series, Drury Walker and his pet moths were exposed to an unstable chemical the Penguin gang had stolen. His moths died and merged with his skin and mutated into a cocoon, and eventually, Walker was turned into a powerful, gigantic moth monster, similar to the comic book persona Charaxas.

This is the action figure of Killer Moth (as Charaxes) released in 2006 under Mattel's The Batman Shadowtek line. I much prefer the look of this Killer Moth as the original Killer Moth wore a garish costume with striped purple and green spandex, orange cape and a moth-like mask.

Pre-order “Your savior has arrived!” Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok has been topping box offices around the world since it was released ...

hot toys T-800

T-800 comparisons

hot toys T1 T-800

hot toys T2 T-800

T2 T-800 with M134 Mini-gun

T2 T-1000

Hot Toys T2 Sarah Connor

T3 T-850

hot toys T4 John Connor

hot toys robocop 1

hot toys ed-209

robocain

hot toys robocop 3

hot toys "Appleseed" Deunan Knute

Briareos Hechatonchires

Medicom Motoko Kusanagi

Takara Motoko Kusanagi

Takara VIS Eris

God Complex: Hermes

Hot Toys King Leonidas

ACI Flamma

Celadus Thraex

Astacius Retiarius

Hot Toys Lt. Aldo Raine

col. hans landa (Christoph Waltz)

Hot Toys Blade

Hot Toys Abigail Whistler

Green Arrow

Leon S Kennedy

Jack Krauser

"Resident Evil: Extinction" Alice

Hot Toys Alice

Hot Toys Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson)

VTS Stone Cold Killer

bruce willis as john mcclane from die hard

SEAL Lt AK Waters

Forrest Gump

DID Captain "Millers"

DiD Ranger Marksman "Private Daniel"

matt damon as private ryan

DiD Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg

USMC SSgt Nantz

Hot Toys USMC M249 SAW GUNNER

Jake Gyllenhaal as USMC Scout Sniper Swofford

Johnny Depp as John Dillinger.

Eric Bana as Norman "Hoot" Hooten

Rick Deckard Blade Runner

roy batty replicant

Steve McQueen as Josh Randall

Robert De Niro Taxi Driver

clint eastwood dirty harry

Léon: The Professional

enterbay jack bauer

Playhouse GSG-9

Subway 24 Hero

DiCaprio as Dom Cobb

Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills

Samuel L Jackson as John Shaft

John Travolta as Vincent Vega

Duke Togo Golgo 13

bruce Lee, Game of Death

jackie chan (成龍)

RIP Steve Jobs

iCEO steve jobs

3A Pathfinder Ono

3A Badbot

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All entries written in my blog is of my own personal opinion and copyrighted. Third-party images are copyrighted by their respective owners. Please contact these rightful owners for their usage terms & conditions. I will not be responsible for copyright issues nor infringement thereof for third-party images I post on my blog. Reposting of my blog images is acceptable with written permission from myself and a courtesy link back to this blog.

If there is any infringement issue, kindly email me: cowpehcowbu[at]gmail[dot]com and i will gladly remove them immediately. By the way, free toys are always welcome.